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survey: debadge the roadster

keep or remove rear tesla badge

  • keep it

    Votes: 48 94.1%
  • remove it

    Votes: 3 5.9%

  • Total voters
    51
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I can understand if you bought a Chevy Camero RS...because you couldn't afford the ZL1...you'd want to debadge it so that the average person wouldn't know what a broke-a$$ sumbitch you are.

But, this is a Tesla. Why would you be embarrassed to let everyone know it's a Tesla...YOUR Tesla?
 
I've been more around looking at the idea of creating high quality "T E S L A" badges / emblems for the Roadster. The earlier engineering prototypes and possibly sigs had decals and they didn't look all that bad. I actually prefer the look really. Pic at bottom. Take noticed of the old style tail-lights.

Personally I hate the plastic emblems and it does not reflect a $100k plus car that's a true automotive icon.

With decals you can change it up whenever you like and cater to your style. Lastly you don't have to be so delicate around the rear emblems while washing the Roadster. I might have managed to pull off a letter as well as Tesla.

Also with the decals, you can carefully measure where the original ones are, documenting it, and remove them. Then if you ever want to bring it back to stock you can and the letters will be preserved and most likely not lost.

I know that once you remove the Tesla badging from the rear the "mass" of people who admire the car won't know what type of car it is (as Nigel indicated happens with the badging). Also you'll get more people incorrectly labeling the Roadster as a "Lotus" production car which we all know its not.

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My 2.0 came without the rear badging. I asked the service center guys if they knew what happened, or why people did that (seems odd to me too), and he said that the letters tended to fall off, so instead of re-attaching, some owners just take them all off. {sigh}

My own inclination is to have them put back on. I feel it's almost a duty as a Roadster owner to let people know, without a doubt, what the car is. We can't change the world's view of electric cars if we hide.
 
My 2.0 came without the rear badging. I asked the service center guys if they knew what happened, or why people did that (seems odd to me too), and he said that the letters tended to fall off, so instead of re-attaching, some owners just take them all off. {sigh}

That's a lame excuse! If they used a bad glue, they need to change it and use a better one!
 
That's a lame excuse! If they used a bad glue, they need to change it and use a better one!

I'm afraid that it might not be an excuse. On my RS one part of the E was missing several months after I took delivery. It had decided to come off all by itself and without any consultation or warning. After I reported it, a ranger fixed it when he was around by replacing it with a (better glued) new one. Ever since, none of the (parts of) the letters have gone missing.
 
I rebadged #992 with a Tesla Decal running down the side. I thought this would take the guess work out of, "What kind of car it that?"
NOT....
One guy walked up to me and acused me of putting the decal on a Lotus to make everybody think I am rich!!!
I was so surprised that I couldn't think of anything to say before he walked away. Well my immediate reaction was "Moron!!" but I stopped myself from saying that and slipped into dumbfounded!
 
I think that the font they used for "TESLA" was a great choice. The badge looks prestigious and without it, the rear looks barren. The only gripe I have is that it is so easy to snag and break off the individual letters with a cloth when washing or drying the car.
 
Try your local body shop...I almost lost the same bar on the "E"...a body shop should have this sticky "gum like" black stuff that they can apply to the back of the piece...mine's still on there 3 years later...

Thanks for the feedback guys. If you look in the pictures, the last bar of the E fell off when I took it to a detailer.

How, I have to find a way to get it reattached.
 
I bet that the "E" is the most commonly damaged letter, followed by "A", since these letters are comprised of 3 & 2 pieces, respectively. I bought a Roadster with a missing middle bar in the "E" and I didn't even notice it until a couple of months later. I initially thought that I must have inadvertently caught a cloth on the piece and pulled it off. However, when I went back to the delivery pictures, I could see that the car came that way.
 
Well, here's to hoping I have the same experience. :) Only had my roadster a short time, and I just noticed that the top bar of the "A" is missing, no big, but I sure hope I can score the whole badge for the same price. :) Even though it's no big deal, I had better get on it, as I've found even in my limited experience, that once a Tesla roadster part is not in stock, "good luck."

Purple #744